The Trouble of Liking
by merlinsearlobe
Summary: At Hogwarts, Lily Evans finds close friends, tries to keep in touch with Severus, and constantly runs into James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter––four boys who seem to have come to Hogwarts solely for the purpose of getting into trouble.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** My attempt at a fic exploring the Marauders, with this Chapter at least told from Lily's point of view. Let me know if you're interested in reading more!

 **Rating:** M, for if I decide to develop this into a longfic that follows them throughout their seven years at Hogwarts.

 **Disclaimer** : All the wonderful characters, settings, and plot of Harry Potter belong to the lovely and very talented J.K. Rowling.

* * *

 _The truth…is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with caution._

 **oOo**

The summer of 1971 was drawing to a close, and Lily Evans was delighted. Two days before the end of August, she sought out Severus, meeting him just outside of Spinner's End. He was still wearing his odd, mismatched clothes, but he looked happier than she had ever seen him.

"Just you wait," he told her, smiling as he watched her on the swings in the park near the Evans' house. "You'll love it so much, learning it all."

"I can't _wait_." She stopped the swing, dragging the toes of her sneakers through the grass, not bothering with her usual graceful dismount as she lay down laughing on the grass beside Severus. "It'll be so amazing, Sev. Magic everywhere, and we'll be encouraged to use it!"

Two days later, her parents woke her up early in the morning, made breakfast which she could barely eat, her stomach was churning so much with nerves and excitement, and loaded her trunk and owl into the family car. Petunia had made a point about not wanting to go to the station––"don't want to get near all the weirdoes headed off to that _school_ "––but was bundled nevertheless into the backseat. Lily was sitting beside her now, smiling as Petunia sniffed at her. Their parents were busy with the last preparations, their mother scouring Lily's room for anything she might have forgotten and later miss at Hogwarts.

"You'll miss me, won't you?" Lily giggled at the look on Petunia's face.

"Why would I miss you?" Petunia glowered at her. "You're the one running off to that freak school––"

"––Mum said not to _call_ it that."

Petunia pursed her lips, a habit she had picked up from their Aunt Claire. "Fine. It doesn't matter." And then she refused to talk to her for the rest of the journey to the station, except when their parents prodded her. She didn't say a word when they parked at the station, all the way up until they were standing at the presumable location of Platform 9¾. Then she did speak:

"I am _not_ going to run into a wall!"

Their mother sighed. "Come on, then, Lily, let's take you through first." She watched interestedly as another family of four, the patriarch dressed very oddly in both a nightgown and pyjama bottoms, strolled casually into the apparently solid brick wall, trolley and all. Mrs Evans kept one hand on her own trolley and held out her other to Lily, who took it, and together they too walked forward––straight into another platform, bustling with unmistakeably magical families, a steam engine emblazoned with the words _Hogwarts Express_ gleaming scarlet in the morning sunlight.

"Oh, Lily," her mother whispered, squeezing her hand. "This is marvellous." She knelt and pulled her daughter into a tight hug, as though seeing this scene had made her fully realise again the whole, entirely different new world she was sending her daughter off to.

"Wow!"

Her father had arrived, looking around with some astonishment at the scene and taking in background din of chattering children, parents, and owls, cats, and toads. Petunia looked, too, an odd mixed expression on her face.

"We've a good fifteen minutes to go," said Mr Evans, rubbing his hands together. "Wow. This really is something, isn't it, girls?"

"Now listen, Lily," said their mother, when they had stowed Lily's trunk in one of the train compartments, and were standing in the corridor. "Be careful, write to us often, tell us everything that goes on, everything you learn,"––she was interrupted briefly, when a small boy flew by not very quickly on a low-flying broomstick––"and remember to write and tell us _everything_!"

"I will!" Lily promised. She turned to Petunia. "I'll send you lots of all the magical candy Sev said they might have up there."

Petunia didn't say anything in reply, but it didn't stop Lily from flinging her arms around her sister.

"I'll miss you," she said, to Petunia and to her parents, and she meant it. Even if Petunia had been sullen for most of the past summer.

"We'll miss you too, sweetheart! We'd better get off before the train starts."

Mr and Mrs Evans, both rather teary-eyed, and Petunia, decidedly not teary-eyed, headed down the corridor, turning back every few steps to smile and wave at Lily. Then they turned the corner and Lily couldn't see them anymore, so she ran to the train window and squinted out onto the platform. Just as she saw them, the train whistle sounded mightily and she felt the window ledge vibrate as the engine began to pick up steam. She waved frantically as the train started to move, slowly easing along the platform. Her mother was wiping her eyes, her father beamed, and all three of them were waving as the train picked up speed and pulled away.

Lily finally turned away from the window, suddenly feeling rather lonely, and sat down, watching the random procession of students outside the compartment. Her compartment was toward one end of the train, but it wasn't long before a fair-haired girl slid open the door and poked her head in, a smaller girl close behind her.

"Hi, mind if she sits with you?"

"Not at all," said Lily, helping open the door so the girls could drag a trunk in. "I'm Lily."

"Beth," said the older girl, shaking her hand with a smile. "This is my sister Mary." She turned to her sister. "Okay, I'll send Roger over to help with the trunk. And you know where I am, if you need anything else."

Lily shook hands with Mary, who looked the same age as herself. "Is this your first year?"

Mary nodded. "Is it yours, too?"

"Yeah," said Lily. "I haven't got any brothers or sisters who've gone to Hogwarts, though."

"What about your parents?" Mary sat down opposite her.

"They––well, we're muggles," Lily said, and laughed. "Did I use that right?"

Mary laughed as well. "Yeah, except _you're_ not a muggle, you're a muggle-born witch." Looking interested, she went on, "So are you the first in your family to go to Hogwarts?"

"Yeah."

"Excellent, that means there's all sorts of new stuff I can tell you," Mary said happily. "Beth and Rog have told me so much already."

At this point, a tall blonde boy who looked a couple years older than Mary entered the compartment and proceeded to stow the girls' trunks. "Roger," Mary informed Lily. "My brother. He's a fifth year now. Thanks, Rog," she added.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't bother me again," Roger said, but he smiled and said hi to Lily, and pretended to mess with Mary's hair before leaving.

"Right," Lily said, once the door had slid closed again, "what can you tell me about Hogwarts?"

"Well, first, there are the four Houses. My whole family's in Gryffindor, apart from my father, he was in Hufflepuff. Any idea what House you'll be?"

"Gryffindor, I hope," Lily said. She'd read _Hogwarts: A History_ and had liked the sound of Gryffindor. Someone sprinted loudly down the corridor outside and she glanced over, seeing a second boy race by, a blur of jet-black hair. "What about you?"

"Probably the same. Family usually end up in the same one, though not always."

A tall boy strode down the corridor by their compartment, shouting, " _No hexing on the train, first-year!_ "

Mary looked amused. Lily, meanwhile, pulled out her wand, suddenly excited. "Can I use this on here?" She'd spent much of the summer poring over her brand new textbooks, and was itching to test out her wand.

"Sure," Mary said, "but no hexing, remember." She grinned.

"Still working on hexes," Lily grinned back. "I can manage _lumos_ , I think." A globe of soft white light glowed at the tip of her wand.

"Lily?"

She glanced over and immediately broke into a smile. "Sev! I was wondering when you'd find me."

Severus slid open the door, looking slightly uneasy when he noticed Mary. "Hi," he muttered.

"This is Mary," Lily informed him. "Mary, this is my friend Severus. You can call him Sev."

Mary waved. Severus nodded and took a seat beside Lily.

"Mary was just telling me about Hogwarts."

"I thought I already did," he said, dark eyes finding hers.

"Telling me _more_ about Hogwarts," Lily amended. "She's got a sister and a brother who go there already. What were we talking about, then?"

"Houses," Mary said. "Gryffindor, the one you wanted." Perhaps she noticed the slightest look of scorn that had appeared on Severus' face, because she tilted her head and asked, "What's wrong with that, then?"

Severus glanced at Lily. "Nothing."

"So how are we sorted, anyway?"

Mary explained that the process would either be a frightening battle (according to her brother), or a ceremony involving a singing hat (according to her sister).

"It's the hat," said Sev. "My mother told me."

" _That's_ a relief."

Several hours and multiple chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties later, a tall Prefect informed them that it was time to put their school robes on over their clothes and prepare to disembark, although there was no need to take their trunks with them. Growing more and more excited the closer she got to reaching Hogwarts, her school and home for the next months, Lily barely paid attention to where her feet were taking her until she was clambering into a boat with Severus, Mary, and another girl. She could see the lanterns lighting each of the boats with the other first years; and then she looked up and saw the castle on the cliff, every warmly lit window full of magic and promise.

 **oOo**

Lily, Mary, and Severus were standing in the gaggle of first year students awaiting their Sorting. They were near the front, and had quite a good look at the rest of the Great Hall: there were four long tables full of older students, and front and centre was a three-legged stool on top of which sat a shabby-looking hat.

"Told you so," a black-haired boy was whispering, looking sideways at the boy beside him, who also had dark hair.

" _So_ disappointing," the other boy whispered back. "Was really looking forward to a good duel."

"Quiet!" barked the Professor who had greeted them, fixing them with a stern look. McGonagall, Lily thought her name was.

But one of the black-haired boys turned to another boy and whispered loudly, "Didn't you want a good fight though, Rem––"

"Shhh," said Lily. The boy turned around and stared at her, then grinned.

"First years, quiet," repeated Professor McGonagall, the stern-looking witch. "I will call out your names in alphabetical order. When I call your name, please come forward and sit on this stool."

There was a brief pause, filled with anticipation, before the Professor said:

"Abbott, Nicholas."

Nicholas was a small boy who looked rather calm when his name was called first. He walked over to the three-legged stool and sat. Professor McGonagall placed the Hat on his head.

After several seconds, the Hat opened a mouth-like tear near its brim, and shouted: "RAVENCLAW!"

Nicholas rose and started, calmly, to walk off, hat still on head, before Professor McGonagall pulled it off him. There was a slight sniggering across the Hall, but Nicholas escaped mostly unscathed. It didn't look too frightening at all, Lily thought.

She paid attention when the boy who had grinned back at her was called:

"Black, Sirius."

The boy walked out––sauntered, almost, if a first year could saunter––and sat down.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily rolled her eyes. Several names later, it was her turn:

"Evans, Lily."

She took a deep breath and walked out, feeling the eyes of all her fellow first years on her as she reached the stool and sat down. Professor McGonagall lowered the Hat onto her head, where it sat comfortably just over her eyes.

 _Mmm,_ she heard in her mind, _I do see potential here._

Before she even had the chance to respond, however, the hat shouted: "GRYFFINDOR!" She could hear applause ringing out from the direction of the Gryffindor table, and when the professor removed the hat she grinned back at Sev and Mary before her way over to the table.

"Henna, Deirdre." A slender girl with longish dark hair, Deirdre soon joined Lily at the Gryffindor table.

"Lupin, Remus." Remus was a pale boy with sandy blonde hair who looked slightly under the weather. When he joined the Gryffindors, the black-haired boy from earlier had saved a spot for him.

"MacDonald, Mary." Lily found herself holding her breath, until: "GRYFFINDOR!"

Grinning, she made space for Mary beside her. "Nice to see you again," she said, happily, shouting over the applause.

Meanwhile, the Sorting continued for the remaining group of first years, some of whom looked rather queasy.

"Pettigrew, Peter," was sorted into Gryffindor, as was "Potter, James," who turned out to be the other black-haired boy who had been whispering earlier. Finally, Professor McGonagall had reached Severus.

"Snape, Severus."

"C'mon, Sev," Lily murmured, hoping he'd somehow join her at the Gryffindor table, even though she knew what was going to happen. Sure enough, the hat had barely brushed the top of Severus's head before it proclaimed,

" _SLYTHERIN!_ "

She watched as Professor McGonagall removed the hat and Severus stood, making his way across the Hall to the Slytherin table. When he glanced back, she waved and smiled, and after a second or so, he smiled back.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! *Hugs* Please let me know what you think – what you liked and disliked, which characters you'd like to see further explored, what scenes from canon (or in your mind-canon) you've always been curious about!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Summary:** Lily learns about blood status, You-Know-Who, and finds out along with her friends that Hogwarts is not immune from the outside disturbances of You-Know-Who's continuing rise to power.

 **Author's Note:** Please do comment on what you liked, and what you'd like to see further developed! _**Supergoddad**_ : Thanks for reviewing! I'm really pleased you liked the prologue. I want to write further chapters, as long as I have the inspiration for it. And thanks for the suggestion – I definitely plan on exploring Lily and James' relationship.

* * *

For those students who were the first in their family to attend Hogwarts, the first night spent in the castle always held a deep magic, filled with the charm of potential. It was no different for Lily, who was filled with joy that this brand new world that she'd dreamed of was as daring and exciting as she had imagined. She and her new dormitory mates––Mary MacDonald, Deirdre Henna, and Olivia Pennyworth––now sat on their four-poster beds in the pleasantly low-lit room, each girl clutching a mug of Mary's mother's hot chocolate.

"I'm really excited about Transfiguration," Deirdre said. "My brother can turn all sorts of things into animals."

"But Charms seem so much more fun," said Mary, slurping from her mug. "Making things levitate, the summoning charm––can't _wait_ 'til I get decent at that."

Lily grinned. "Yeah, that'll be great. I'm not really looking forward to Potions though––cutting up frogs and such."

"We won't be cutting up _frogs_ ," said Olivia. "Well, I hope not. Anyway, the most important class is probably Defence Against the Dark Arts, whether we like it or not. Especially with what You-Know-Who's been up to lately…"

The girls had earlier explained to Lily who You-Know-Who was – as much as they knew from what their parents told them, in any case. Olivia, though muggle-born, had already heard about You-Know-Who from her parents; her father had happened to befriend a magical couple, the Jorkins, whose child was also attending Hogwarts.

"With You-Know-Who supposedly getting stronger, I don't understand why we're still letting Slytherins into the school," Mary said, making a face. "I mean, they keep going off and joining… _him_ , don't they? That's what I've heard people saying."

"Hey," Lily cut in, "They're not all bad. My friend just got Sorted into Slytherin."

Mary said, "Severus, you mean?"

"Yeah, Sev." Lily paused. "He's always wanted to be in Slytherin."

The other girls exchanged glances. Lily looked at them. "What?"

"I guess he could be different." Mary shrugged.

Deirdre asked, "You're muggle-born, right? So neither of your parents have magical blood?"

Lily shook her head.

"Then your friend is different," Deirdre concluded, shaking her dark hair behind her shoulders. "Most Slytherins are purists and wouldn't be caught dead with someone with entirely non-magical blood."

"Not," added Olivia, darkly, "that blood purists put it so politely. You know what they call people like us."

Lily, again, shook her head. "What do they call us, exactly?"

"It's a…it's a really bad word," said Deirdre, looking embarrassed and clearly not wanting to say it. Mary looked similarly embarrassed.

"'Mudblood'," Olivia said, matter-of-factly.

"It's a terrible thing to call someone," Deirdre said, then added, with difficulty, "They say it to mean…they say it because they think muggle-borns have 'dirty', or 'common', blood."

"Well, Sev isn't like that. I asked him before whether it made a difference that I was muggle-born, and he said it didn't make any difference at all."

"I'm glad he said that," said Mary, but it was clear what the girls still thought of the Slytherin House. Lily shrugged and sipped her chocolate. She would find out soon enough, she thought.

Their first lesson the next day was Potions with the Slytherins. After breakfast, students began to trickle out of the Great Hall for their next class, Lily and her new friends among them. As she walked along, listening to Olivia and Mary discussing quidditch, she heard,

"Lily."

It was Severus. She beamed at the sight of him and fell back from the group to give him a quick hug. "Hey, Sev."

He gave her a small smile, falling into step beside her. "So how're you liking it here?"

"I love it," Lily declared. "Everything you said it would be. I can't wait to go to classes."

Soon the two of them were chatting away heartily as they continued toward the dungeons, and when they eventually entered the classroom, Lily thought with a certain triumph that Sev was indeed different. He did not, after all, care about the status of her blood.

Once they had found seats, Lily said to Deirdre and Olivia, "This is Sev, my friend from back home."

After a beat, Deirdre and Severus shook hands, but Olivia made no gesture and only nodded, looking distrustful.

"Hello," said Severus, just as another boy in Slytherin robes sat down beside him. "Oh, this is Avery."

There was something sharp about Avery's smile. "Hello. So who're you all? You, I know," he said, nodding to Deirdre. "Our parents have met." Something about the way he spoke and the things he was saying, and the way his eyes scanned over them appraisingly, caused Lily to feel an immediate sense of dislike.

"Mary MacDonald," said Mary.

"Olivia," said Olivia.

"And I'm Lily Evans."

"Evans?" cut in another Slytherin boy, who had appeared on Sev's other side. "Any relation to the Evans of Northcote?"

"No," Lily said. "You wouldn't know my family, I'm muggle-born."

As she spoke, she glimpsed a sort of hesitation in Sev's face, and his hand twitched as though he had thought of grabbing her arm. The other Slytherin boy's eyes gleamed.

"So none of your family are wizards or witches? They're all muggles?"

"Cut it out, Mulciber," Sev said, half-heartedly. Lily frowned, a growing sense of unease and dread inside her. Mulciber was smiling now, but it was a decidedly nasty sort of smile.

"C'mon, Lily, there's no point talking to them," said Olivia loudly. But, never one to back down in the face of an insult, Lily said,

"Yeah, my family are all muggles. So?"

Mulciber was sneering openly. Avery, with a smirk, said, "So, Severus, this is the sort of…people…you knew before coming to Hogwarts?"

Lily glared at the two Slytherin boys, furious at the obvious arrogance and dismissal dripping from every pore of them. Part of her was furious at them; another part simply angry that what the girls had warned her about had turned out so soon to be true.

"Lily's my friend," said Severus, coolly, and she felt a little swell of pride. Yes, they were friends. No, this magical world and the nebulous idea of You-Know-Who and Slytherins who yearned to join him would not break their friendship.

Not wanting to look at the other Slytherin boys, however, she sat down, the little bubble of pride still held in her chest. But Mary whispered,

"Some friend he is."

Lily looked quickly at her. "What?"

"If he's friends with the likes of those two," Mary said, "I don't know how he can call himself your friend. You heard what they said."

At that moment, Professor Slughorn entered the room, a large man who appeared to be perspiring rather profusely despite the relative chill of the dungeon classroom. Still, he seemed like a cheerful man, and gave them all a hearty welcome to the class. Lily was happy to find that she liked him, and happier when she remembered that he was the Head of Slytherin. Not all of them had to be like Mulciber and Avery, she thought.

"Please open your textbooks to page fifteen and attempt to produce the base of the Antidote to Common Poisons. I will circulate the room and supervise you; please do raise any questions immediately. I wouldn't want anybody in this class to lose their eyebrows."

"Antidote to Common Poisons," Lily heard Avery muttering, "We should be learning how to make the poisons first."

"Or how to breed a basilisk," said another Slytherin, leading to what sounded like approving snickers. Lily realised, even as she carefully cut up a pair of shrivelled roots, that it had been Sev who had spoken.

"Of _course_ you lot want to create things that kill people," returned someone behind Lily, and she recognised Sirius, the pale, black-haired Gryffindor boy. He was sitting beside his friend from the previous day, James, and they were both looking daggers at the Slytherins.

"Nobody cares what you think, Black. _Blood traitor_ ," said Mulciber.

"You'd better shut up before I hex you." It was James who spoke this time.

"Ah, Potter," said Avery. "Another _proud_ blood traitor family."

There was a bit of a scuffle and Lily, as well as several others, turned to see James scowling at the sandy-haired boy on his other side, Remus Lupin, who seemed to have pinned James' wand to the desk. Sirius Black, however, had his wand drawn and pointed directly at Avery, and none other than Professor Slughorn was standing just before them.

"Boys, boys, boys," he said, "What in the world is going on?"

"Black here was about to hex me, Sir," said Avery at once.

Professor Slughorn eyed the brandished wand. "Please put your wand away, Mr. Black," he said, "and I won't be forced to dock points from your House on your very first day!"

"But Sir," said James, "they were calling––"

" _Shh_ ," said Slughorn. "Enough! That's quite enough out of you boys. Everyone back to work, now! This is a classroom, after all. Come on, come on!"

When they exited the dungeons after Potions, half the class seemed to be buzzing about the confrontation between the Houses. Deirdre looked upset and Olivia rather grim.

"I guess it's as bad as my parents say," said Mary, glumly, as they climbed up the stairs on their way to Transfiguration. "You-Know-Who's getting stronger, and even Hogwarts isn't safe."

"It's hardly unsafe," Lily said, although to be honest she felt a little shaken from the argument as well. _It was just that_ , she thought to herself, _an argument, it happens all the time_. But the way the Slytherins had said _blood traitor_ made her think, with an unpleasant turning in her stomach, that it was perhaps only a matter of time before she heard the word _Mudblood_. In fact, she thought, with another unpleasant feeling, it had probably only been because of Sev that they hadn't called her that already.

Transfiguration, Lily was cheered to remember, was with the Hufflepuffs. And the mood of the Gryffindors was considerably lifted when Professor McGonagall, her stern expression not shifting, transfigured her desk into a pig, which ran about the room squealing until eventually reclaimed into wood.

"I will now pair you off into teams to practice your first attempts at transfiguration," McGonagall said, levitating her desk back in front of her. Olivia and Mary were paired with Hufflepuffs, but Deirdre was assigned Remus, and Lily was to work with James. They sat at the desk with a single match lying on the surface.

"James," said the boy, sticking out his hand. She shook it.

"Lily."

"I know." He grinned. "Go on, you go first."

By the end of class, through their combined efforts, their match looked quite silvery and perhaps slightly pointy on one end, although Lily wasn't sure if that was wishful thinking. As it was, nobody in the class had done better with the exception of Deirdre and Remus, and Sirius and Edith, a Hufflepuff girl. As Lily and her friends regrouped to head back to the Great Hall for lunch, they (naturally) fell to discussing their respective partners. Deirdre seemed to be the most impressed with hers:

"He was really clever. He knew about Switching Spells, and everything. You probably couldn't hear, but Professor McGonagall gave points to Gryffindor for that."

"Sounds like you're very fond of him," said Lily, exchanging significant smiles with Mary and Olivia, and causing Deirdre to blush.

"Not like that! Anyway, you were getting on pretty well with James."

"Yeah," said Lily, already thinking about what food would appear on the plates for lunch, "he's alright."


End file.
